diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractPhpCodegen.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractPhpCodegen.java
index 3c8dec1339e..8dcee6d2cb3 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractPhpCodegen.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractPhpCodegen.java
@@ -664,6 +664,10 @@ public abstract class AbstractPhpCodegen extends DefaultCodegen implements Codeg
             return "EMPTY";
         }
 
+        if(name.trim().length() == 0) {
+            return "SPACE_" + name.length();
+        }
+
         // for symbol, e.g. $, #
         if (getSymbolName(name) != null) {
             return (getSymbolName(name)).toUpperCase(Locale.ROOT);
@@ -739,6 +743,11 @@ public abstract class AbstractPhpCodegen extends DefaultCodegen implements Codeg
             return input;
         }
 
+        // If the string contains only "trim-able" characters, don't trim it
+        if(input.trim().length() == 0) {
+            return input;
+        }
+
         // Trim the string to avoid leading and trailing spaces.
         return super.escapeText(input).trim();
     }